Published:
11:30 AM May 6, 2022
Learning to drive was part of the driving force to bring together one Ipswich couple who have marked their diamond wedding anniversary.
Malcolm Metcalfe, 87, has always been a fan of cars but when his wife-to-be Janet moved in next door little did he know his beloved Morris Oxford would be the catalyst to their long-lasting relationship.
Mrs Metcalfe moved to Ipswich with her mother Blanche Durrant and lived in a house near Mr Metcalfe’s concrete business, Handyman Supplies, in Derby Road, Ipswich.
Janet and Malcolm Metcalfe celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on May 5.
– Credit: Kingsley Healthcare
The couple soon got to talking and he offered to teach her to drive. Now for six decades working together has been their key to success.
Mrs Metcalfe, a qualified nursery nurse, said: “We got talking one day and I told him I would like to learn to drive. He immediately said he would teach me in his Morris Oxford.”
Within a few months, the couple became engaged and married at St Bartholomew’s Church, in Ipswich, on May 5, 1962.
The couple on their wedding day at Ipswich on May 5 1962.
– Credit: Metcalfe family
Mrs Metcalfe worked in the maternity ward at Ipswich Hospital until she joined her husband’s business following their marriage.
“Working together has been a key to our long and successful marriage,” she said.
The pair worked hard but over their lives enjoyed many special trips together, including holidays to Spain, Canada and weekly trips to Lowestoft.
The retired couple have two children, Colin, 59, and Sandra, 56, who live in Dartford and Scotland respectively.
They are also grandparents to four grandchildren and to four great-grandchildren.
To mark their special anniversary, the couple celebrated their diamond wedding with an intimate lunch at The Depperhaugh nursing home, in Hoxne, near Eye, where Mr Metcalfe, 87, has been living for the past eight months.
The couple enjoyed a special celebratory meal to mark their diamond wedding anniversary.
– Credit: Kingsley Healthcare
The couple spent many years living in Ipswich before moving to Occold, near Eye, sharing their land with animals including cows and ponies.
They finally moved to Stradbroke where Mrs Metcalfe still lives.
Mrs Metcalfe said: “We were always too busy working to do much else but we enjoyed holidays in Spain and a three-week trip to Canada. When we retired we enjoyed our weekly trips into Lowestoft.”
